Rosewood Center facing U.S. civil rights investigation

Julie ScharperSun reporter

The U.S. Justice Department has
launched an investigation of the
long-troubled Rosewood Center to
determine whether conditions at
the state's largest facility for profoundly
disabled adults violate the
residents' civil rights.
Although the institution is set to
close next summer, federal authorities
will look into the treatment of
residents, including safety issues
and medical care, along with plans
for their placement in the community,
according to a letter sent to Gov.
Martin O'Malley.
A Justice Department spokeswoman
declined yesterday to discuss details
of the investigation, but state officials
said federal investigators have
requested numerous documents
pertaining to policies, procedures
and behavior-management techniques,
as well as meeting minutes
and staffing organizational charts.
Those officials said conditions at
Rosewood have improved significantly
since reports last year of serious
problems at the Owings Mills facility.
The reported problems included
a resident with a history of violence
who stabbed another resident with a knife he stole on a
field trip, patients receiving inadequate
nutrition from feeding
tubes and a woman who did not
receive medical care for two
weeks after ripping off her toenails.
"I think they're responding to issues
that were problematic then
that are no longer problematic today,"
said Michael S. Chapman, director
of the state's Developmental
Disabilities Administration.
Justice Department officials
have not issued subpoenas or
visited the facility, but they might
visit next month, Chapman said.
The letter informing the governor
of the investigation was sent last
month.
In January, O'Malley announced
plans to close the 120-
year-old facility, which housed
about 3,700 people at its peak. Today,
127 live there, and administrators
are working closely with
relatives to move each one to a
smaller environment where they
can receive the care they need,
Chapman said.
Virginia Knowlton, director of
the Maryland Disability Law Center,
which released a report last
year detailing dangerous conditions
at Rosewood, said she was
surprised that the Justice Department
was beginning the investigation
now.
"It seems a little behind the
curve since the decision has already
been made to close the facility,"
she said. "Perhaps the purpose
is to monitor the closing
process and oversee that transition."
According to the letter, the Justice
Department will investigate
the state's efforts to ensure compliance
with federal law and look
for "systemic violations of constitutional
or other federal rights." If
violations are observed, the department
will issue written findings,
recommend remedies, and
provide financial and technical
assistance to the state.
Jamie Hais, a spokeswoman for
the Justice Department's Civil
Rights Division, said she was unable
to comment on when the investigation
is expected to be completed.
Under the federal Civil Rights of
Institutionalized Persons Act, the
Justice Department may investigate
allegations of abuse or neglect
if the attorney general has
previously notified state officials
of a problem in writing, suggested
corrections and allowed
state officials "reasonable time to
take appropriate corrective actions."
In recent months, no significant
problems have come to light in
the state-mandated incident reports
that Rosewood submits to
the Maryland Disability Law Center,
Knowlton said. The Justice
Department has not asked
Knowlton's office for information,
although the center would
be glad to assist in the investigation,
she said.
The state's Office of Health Care
Quality recently completed its
annual review of the facility, although
the results have not been
made public, according to its director,
Wendy Kronmiller. In September,
her office released a 160-
page report documenting numerous
problems including staff
members' inability to control violent
residents, missed mealtimes
and indications that some residents
repeatedly choke on food.
The facility was founded in 1888
as the Asylum and Training
School for the Feeble Minded and
later named Rosewood State Hospital
and Rosewood Center. Concerns
about treatment there go
back many years.
From the 1950s through the
1970s, there were reports of rape,
abuse, neglect, overcrowding and
unsanitary conditions. One resident
reportedly drowned in a
bathtub. A 1981 Justice Department
report found that residents
"failed to receive minimally adequate
care."
The population of residents
dwindled in recent decades as
more families chose to keep disabled
residents at home or place
them in smaller care centers.
In January 2007, new admissions
to Rosewood were halted after
a resident was found to be in
immediate danger, and in August
last year, the facility was found to
be noncompliant in seven of
eight conditions of licensure.
Some disability advocacy
groups rejoiced when informed
of plans to close Rosewood, but
the families of some residents
protested, saying that their loved
ones had been treated well.
Elsie Platner, 82, of Severna Park
said yesterday that she was
pleased with the care her daughter
received at Rosewood. Although
her daughter was occasionally
bitten or punched by
other residents, the staff did the
best they could, she said.
Platner said that in May she
moved her daughter, now 49, to a
home run by Catholic Charities in
Timonium only because of Rosewood's
pending closure.
"If it hadn't been for this, I
wouldn't have moved her for anything,"
she said.
Chapman said that conditions
at Rosewood have improved as
the staff has focused on caring for
residents while making other arrangements
for them.
"You don't like for the Justice
Department to come into a facility,
but we have to demonstrate
that we are doing what we need
to be doing to ensure [the residents']
safety and welfare," he
said
julie.scharper@baltsun.com